Sioux Falls Christian student wins statewide Doodle 4 Google award

Carver Bleyenburg, a kindergarten student at Sioux Falls Christian, poses with his drawing of a submarine car that was selected as the South Dakota winner of the Doodle 4 Google contest.(Photo: Elisha Page / Argus Leader)Buy Photo

The kindergartner at Sioux Falls Christian Elementary found out Tuesday that his sketch of an imaginary land-water hybrid vehicle is this year's state winner in an annual drawing contest sponsored by Google.

Bleyenburg and his entry will now head to California along with others from across the nation in the Doodle 4 Google competition.

Google spokeswoman Emily Wood said each year's contest has a theme. This year students were asked to create an invention that would make the world a better place.

"I would invent a submarine car that you can drive on land, but also drive in the water," Carver said in his submission.

Doodles appear periodically on the Google website's home page, with more than 2,000 created since the practice started, Wood said.

Carver was familiar with the annual competition since his 10-year-old brother, Kade, placed in the final five last year.

At the announcement in front of Sioux Falls Christian Elementary students, 6-year-old Carver took questions and explained that he had been inspired by big brother Kade's drawing expertise.

"Now I have to be like him," he said.

Carver stood in front of his doodle, which had been expanded to a size that looked as if he could climb inside his car-submarine. When a fellow student asked if he had drawn it that big, Carver tried to explain the concept of enlargement.

The people at Google made it bigger by blowing it up but not "blowing it up," he said, waving his arms to simulate an explosion.

Carver's parents, Cory and Kim Bleyenburg, attended the school assembly."He did it all by himself," Kim Bleyenburg said.

While Carver estimated it took him four or five days to complete the drawing, he actually completed it in about 30 minutes.

Through May 9, people can vote for Carver's Doodle 4 Google here. The field will be pared down to five national finalists, and one will be named the national winner on May 21 in Mountain View, Calif.

The winning student will work with Google's team of professional doodlers to animate their doodle. The animated doodle will be displayed on the Google home page on June 9.

The winner receives a $30,000 college scholarship and his or her school will receive a $50,000 Google for Education grant towards the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program.